Veeco Instruments acquires Solid State Equipment Holdings for $150M

Veeco Instruments Inc. has acquired privately held Solid State Equipment Holdings LLC, a maker of wafer-processing equipment used in making semiconductors and tiny microelectromechanical devices, for about $150 million in cash, the companies announced Thursday.

Plainview-based Veeco forecast revenue of the Horsham, Pennsylvania-based company to be $65 million in 2015 and said the transaction will add to fiscal 2015 earnings per share when adjusted for special items. Veeco's management scheduled a conference call to review the transaction Friday.

"SSEC is a highly successful process equipment company that is a great strategic fit with Veeco," said John R. Peeler, Veeco's chairman and chief executive. "This is a synergistic transaction that . . . we expect will drive growth and profitability."

Veeco makes equipment used by manufacturers of light-emitting diodes, flexible organic light-emitting diodes, solar cells and hard drives for computers.

"Combining resources will enable us to accelerate growth . . . in Asia and Europe, where Veeco's impressive sales and service network will provide connectivity to key customers," said Herman Itzkowitz, SSEC's chief executive.

Shares of Veeco tacked on .3 percent to close at $37.51 Thursday.

By Ken Schachter

kenneth.schachter@newsday.comkschach

Ken Schachter covers corporate news, including technology and aerospace, and other business topics for Newsday. He has also worked at The Miami Herald and The Jerusalem Post.